'Big Red Devil' dealer who peddled more than £1 million worth of drugs ordered to pay back ill-gotten gains
29.09.2023 - 23:37
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A drug dealer known as 'Big Red Devil' has been ordered to pay back almost £500,000 of his ill-gotten gains. Wayne Christopher Marcus, 56, was slapped with the bill under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
He is currently serving a ten-and-a-half year prison sentence for his involvement in the drugs trade. Greater Manchester Police said that Marcus, from Didsbury, admitted conspiring to supply 272 kilograms of cannabis, seven kilograms of cocaine and five kilograms of ketamine, with the drugs said to be worth a total of £1.3 million.
He was another of the criminals to be brought down by the law enforcement hacking of the EncroChat network, where criminals thought they were acting with impunity.
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GMP pounced on Marcus, who was known as 'Big Red Devil' on the encrypted communications system, after being handed details of his activity from European police who were behind the infiltration.
Following a hearing on Friday at Minshull Street Crown Court, Marcus, of Lapwing Lane, Didsbury, was ordered to pay back £464,869.99. If he fails to settle the confiscation sum within three months, he could have another four years added to his jail sentence.
After the hearing, Mark Chesters, a financial Investigator within GMP's Stockport district, said: "Greater Manchester Police have a zero tolerance to drug dealing and as today has shown, if you make the decision to go down that road, you will put both your liberty and assets at risk.
"A proportion of this money will now be used for the benefit of local communities, and good causes in the Stockport area."